Unleash the beast
by Ashabird
Summary: After the disaster that was the wizard of the year banquet, Alex, saddened by her break up with Mason, needs something to distract herself. That something turns out to be an independant study course. Meet Alex Russo, Beast Tamer! Will Mason get Alex back before Chase Riprock takes her away from him forever? Who will win Alex's heart, the beast or the beast tamer?


**Chapter 1**

Alex sighed as she lay forlornly on the couch, staring into space. Behind her, her family stood watching her in concern

"She's been like this ever since the wizard of the year banquet. I don't know what to do anymore, I've tried everything to cheer her up." Jerry said, looking on as Alex flipped idly through a magazine

"I've taken her to the movies, on flying carpet rides, I even took her to an ice cream parlour, she loved that stuff!" Theresa rolled her eyes

"When she was fourteen Jerry, she's eighteen now!"

"Its not his fault Mrs. Russo" Harper said, trying to diffuse the situation "I've tried too, but I haven't seen her crack a smile all week."

"Well maybe she just needs time" Justin jumped in eagerly "she'll eventually just get over it" harper sneered

"Get over your betrayal you mean? The breakup with mason and chase took a toll on her but half of the reason she's on that couch is because of you and your stupid video"

"She knows I didn't mean any of that" the elder Russo protested guiltily

"Is that why she hasn't talked to you for a week?" Harper asked faux innocently, ignoring Justin's glare

"Quiet guys, this is no time to fighting" Theresa scolded the two, huffing frustratedly when they continued to glare at each other.

"You know what, thats it. She's been moping around the house all week. Its time for some tough love. She needs to get on with her life and the only thing standing in the way of that is that she has nothing to do with herself. She needs something to distract her and keep her busy."

Jerry pondered the issue until Theresa snapped her fingers

"What about an independent study course? Justin was pretty busy after he started monster hunting."

"Well..." He mulled over the issue "usually you would have to complete your basic wizard studies, but Alex has been catching up pretty quickly and I doubt they would refuse the wizard of the year. I'll ask about it." Taking this as the end of the conversation, Theresa gathered everyone for dinner. They watched worriedly for the whole of the hour as Alex poked at her food before retreating to her room, having scarcely eaten a mouthful. As soon as she was gone, Jerry went down to the wizard lair, sneaking back up a few hours later and giving the family a silent thumbs up. At his signal they all arranged themselves in the living room, waiting for her to arrive

"Alex, can you come down here please?" Jerry called and Alex slowly lowered herself down the stairs, surprised to see everyone lying in wait for her

"Yes dad?" She asked dully, showing little actual interest in the conversation

"Alex" the Russo family head began "you've been moping around the house for the entire week and its become obvious that you aren't going to move past what happened at the banquet without a little push."

"I-" she tried to interrupt before jerry shushed her "Let me finish. You need something to do with yourself, to distract yourself from the situation and since you didn't go out and find that something I did it for you. Because you won the wizard of the year award, the wizard council has seen fit to allow you to take your independent study course early. Here are some brochures" he said, handing her a large stack of them

"By tomorrow morning I want you to pick a course, I'll help you get started on it but I don't want to hear any complaints." With that the family meeting was over and everyone left for their respective rooms before Alex could input any of her opinions, leaving the second youngest Russo to look over her choices.

* * *

As the sky darkened with the days progression from evening to night, Alex turned on a lamp to see her brochures, now spread out over the coffee table.

"This is so unfair" she mumbled to herself "why do I have to take up an independent study now of all times. I just had a humiliatingly public break up with my boyfriend, what am I supposed to be all sunshine and smiles?" Throwing several less than appealing options into the garbage, Alex now had a more manageable number of brochures left to peruse.

"Lets see. Carpet mechanic, as if. Monster hunter, interesting, but the last thing I need is to be spending more time with Justin. Magical archivist, yeah because I want to spend my time with a bunch of stuffy old historians. Beast tamer..." Alex remembered the way she had felt at the beast bowl, when she had caught the whip and the way that the braided leather had felt so right in her hands. She remembered the way that her body had fit so perfectly into chase's as he had shown her how to crack the whip, the way the sparks had lashed up on contact with the dummy and how Justin's face had twisted in a mixture of jealous uncertainty and inferiority. That was when she knew what she wanted to do. Alex Russo was going to be a beast tamer.


End file.
